Fate of Fire: Kyvedy Guardiah is quite an original indie JRPG released in 2024, but recently updated as the final version envisioned by the developer.
A curse has fallen upon the earth, and we only have 7 days left until everything comes crashing down. That’s in short the setting.
After that point, the game will focus on the adventures of nine different protagonists as their storylines cut back and forth at various points of the collapsing timeline. Roy and Eria head into the sealed Tower of Guardiah due to the mysterious Kyvedy Fire’s call, while other storylines follow a banned knight, a hunted mage, and also creatures that are beginning to rise up against humanity.
As far as I am concerned, the multi-viewpoint storyline is likely going to be one of the best features of the game simply because it will allow the world to breathe, and allow the impending doom to seem larger than a single chosen hero story.
It is the way that Fate of Fire: Kyvedy Guardiah combines action RPG movement with turn-based battles that ultimately gives the game a more defined identity.
On the map, each character plays differently, and the levels are designed to allow the player to use different types of gameplay, such as stealth, speed, fighting, and puzzle-like problem-solving.
When the battle transitions into the faster turn-based format, party members begin casting spells, noting weaknesses of enemies, and using Fireburn abilities.
The more interesting part is how the two layers of the game feed into each other. The map action can create new conditions in the battle, optional battles can award good uses for the characters’ charges, and the turn-based side of the battle can help the player recover from a bad situation by returning some of their health and burning the surrounding enemies after the action on the map resumes.
The game includes many layers of texture outside of the main loop, including lore books, secret achievements, a Monster difficulty that is harder than the standard version, a Runner mode that creates a time-pressure element, and ten individual “bad fates” that provide additional story elements for failing to achieve the desired outcome.
Fate of Fire: Kyvedy Guardiah also takes special care with the music, with 42 tracks composed by Tim Beek, fitting a story-driven RPG that is attempting to leave a greater emotional impact.
Useless to say that the game falls in the old-school pixel art category; the design focus is more about creating a high level of variety within the game.
By playing as both humans and monsters, switching between different viewpoints in the narrative, and transitioning from the pressure of the map to the turn-based nature of battle, the game appears to want to present a unique look for each chapter of the game.
Fate of Fire: Kyvedy Guardiah was released in 2024 on PC via Steam by Denis Johan Tales, and after several updates over the years, the latest, titled Lightbringer, the developer states that it has finally transformed the game into what he originally envisioned from the very beginning.
